Requital
by Al Wolfskill
Summary: Post-Avengers. Loki has been sentenced to exile on Midgard with none of his abilities. But he realized his plans were foiled by none other than some puny humans, so why can he not seek revenge as a human? Upon landing on earth, he finds himself dazed and confused, only to be aided by a strange girl. She seems to be attracted so why not use this to his advantage?
1. Prologue

The humiliation was unbearable. Here he was, the great god of mischief being paraded around like a common dog, a show for all the inhabitants of Asgard. His "brother," Thor, held the chains that held his wrists together. Apparently, he was not even worthy of being allowed to walk on his own, oh no. He was being dragged. The civilians gathered around, staring and gawking at the Asgardian traitor. How he longed to break free of his chains and truly give them something to gawk and stare at… Insignificant fools! They had once bowed and honored him!

The god of mischief was brought forward into the presence of the Allfather. A sly smirk crept on his face. It hadn't occurred to him how much he welcomed death. It would be an acceptable decree no doubt. He'd killed many searching for what was rightfully his and he was still being denied his birthright. If no one desired to accept him, then why not welcome death?

No! Why should he need to be accepted? He was his own self, no one else's! The Allfather's voice rang out, "Loki of Asgard… You are finally being brought to justice for your horrid crimes. Among these villainous deeds, you have murdered over eighty people, not to mention caused great grief for Thor, protector of Midgard. For these heinous crimes, you will be stripped of your power…" As he said this, the Allfather stepped off his throne and walked forward, his steps shaking. Was this a weakness? Loki eyed his once-father, wondering how he could use this weakness to his advantage. His thoughts were interrupted when the Allfather removed the mouth trap that had been keeping him silent.

"…And you will be exiled to the very realm whose grief you caused. You will live out the rest of your days as a mortal, and you will die a mortal," the Allfather spoke. Loki looked up and into the Allfather's eyes with a newborn hatred. How dare he! How dare he send him with that insignificant trash! And he would be forced to live among them?

"That is ridiculous! I will not abide by these terms! I have done nothing that could not have been predicted! You have denied me of my right, so why is it wrong if I take someone else's! And if you think that casting me off to Midgard will be enough to be rid of me, reconsider! You're a foolish old man who cannot… Cannot…" Loki's voice started cracking. The bifrost was gone, the Tesseract in the hands of his rivals… The Chitauri had been annihilated. His whole world, his empire, had been destroyed by a few meager humans. What was it that made him believe being a human would obliterate his ability at having his revenge? His lack of power might hinder him, but that was only a slight barrier. Loki gave a wicked smile and glared at the Allfather, "Can you not think of anything better? Casting me off… Do as you will Allfather, but I will regain my throne!"

With that said, his words echoing throughout the hall, Loki was dragged into a side chamber. In this side chamber he was released of his shackles and forced to turn towards the opposite wall. Only there was no wall…

It was a portal, similar to the bifrost, only this one was made of dark energy, much like the one Thor had been sent through to retrieve him. Loki took a good look around him. No one else was in the chamber… He pushed at the door, trying to open it, but it had obviously been sealed off. Perfect… He had no choice but to wait there, hoping that the portal would somehow close itself. Apparently, he was being watched, and when he did not move of his own free will, Thor pulled open the doors and grabbed Loki by the neck. "I will find you brother. I will rescue you, bring you back home… After I see you have…"

Thor's words were cut off as a group of soldiers grabbed Loki by the arms and tossed him into the portal and he was sent spiraling to Midgard, to become human.


	2. Emeralds & Sapphires

The morning had started off badly enough. Darcy had awoken late, well later than she should have been awake. Even if her class started as late as eleven, she disliked the amount of parking spaces that tended to be used up whenever she arrived later than ten o' clock.

And as of that moment, it was ten forty three.

And really why would anyone make a class on modern political theory start at eleven? It seemed highly illogical! If anything, the class should start later and allow all the eager little students to sleep in after a hard night's work of procrastination! No, not procrastination… Studying! To the professor's extent of knowledge, anyways.

Darcy had flopped out of bed as quickly as she could, pulled of her pajamas and quickly settled into a comfortable t-shirt and jeans, both clothing items she'd picked up from the dirty laundry pile on the floor. Did cleanliness really matter when someone was running late though? She ran around the room, gathering the essay she had supposedly finished the night before, shoved it into the black hole that was her backpack, and run towards the door, locking it behind her. She reached for her keys in her pockets…

Where the hell were the keys?

_Crap! No this isn't good, _she thought, silently cursing at herself. Darcy turned the knob… Of course! The one day she remembered to lock the stupid door was the day she'd forgotten her keys inside! Now she'd have to run down to her landlord, explain the whole predicament, and she'd probably just miss class. But she'd already missed three classes, and another absence would mean she would be dropped from the class! This was a required course, and she was not about to let all the money she'd paid for those units to go down the drain.

Darcy took a deep breath and checked her backpack. If her wallet was in there, she'd at least be able to hitch a ride on the bus or taxi… Right? Wallet? Where were you wallet? Darcy dug around her backpack, crumpling and squishing a load of papers inside. Why hadn't she bought folders? All this suddenly made folders, those things she'd considered pointless, seem like a very good idea. There it was! Darcy yanked out her wallet and ran down the stairs. She'd explain the issue later. Did it really matter right now? More money than she could make in a month was dangling on whether or not she made it to this class! Well, making it to the class _and_ passing it. Details, details.

She hated, absolutely despised, the amount of people that still walked around at… whatever time it currently was. Virginia had that drawback, especially the grounds surrounding Culver University since it had become pretty much well-known due to the whole Dr. Banner incident. It was quite a story really, but Darcy paid little to no attention to it. As of that moment, she was just pissed that so many people were milling around.

Where was the bus? Darcy walked over to the nearest pedestrian and asked in the sweetest and least pissed-off tone she was able to manage, "What time does the next bus to Culver University pop by?" The man looked at her and shrugged, "_Non parlo inglese. Perdonami_." Great… Darcy leaned against the wall of the neighboring building. She was not going to get to class… Great… Just everything was completely great… She dropped her backpack on the floor and watched as something fell in front of her and she heard the familiar jingle of keys. Those little fu—.

Darcy bent down and picked up the little buggers. And yes, there was that happy face key ring, mocking her with its giant smile… "I'll kill you," she growled.

"Hey, Darlene, you left those stuck in the car door yesterday," called a voice from above. "My name's not Darl… Hi, Ms. Holmes…" The landlady. Of course she'd find the damn keys in the damn car… Darcy gave a sarcastic smile and thanked her with a wave of her hand. Off Darcy ran to the parking in the back, and she quickly started the engine, speeding out of the lot and straight onto the road… well straight onto the traffic.

And so, she was stuck in the congested roads for at least a half hour. Darcy pressed her head against the steering wheel at a red light slowly muttering to herself. "I don't like being later than an hour to class. The professor already eyes me like I'm a germ whenever I enter…" A car honk from behind pulled her from her trance and she immediately stepped on the gas pedal, running the now-once-again-red light. Well, she understood why the people behind her had been mad…

She sped towards Culver University, fearing she'd be pulled over for speeding, but nonetheless she sped. Darcy took a deep breath as she was finally able to get inside the parking lot of the darned school. And now… for the parking. What time was it? Darcy checked the clock on the dashboard and cursed at herself. It was noon… The class would be over in half an hour. And professor Jennings would probably have her fingers cut off and mounted on the wall with the caption "Tardy Pest" under them.

Yes, she found a parking spot. Yes, it was the farthest it could have been from the building she had to be in. Yes, the professor had eyed her, and if looks could kill, Darcy would've been seventeen times over. But yes, Darcy was still counted as being present, even if she had come in tardy to the point of exaggeration. Luckily, the suck-up of the class had also been stuck in the congested roads. At the end of the class, Darcy snickered as she heard the Suck-Up Steven tell how he'd been well on his way and some idiot had just frozen at the green light, how he'd been forced to honk, and he'd been stuck behind the red light.

Darcy took a deep breath as she exited the classroom, wanting nothing more than to avoid being the last one out so that Jennings could "have a word with her." That was the last thing she wanted… But there was also that essay in the black hole that she needed to turn in… With a pronounced roll of the eyes, Darcy trotted back to the classroom and set the black hole on the nearest desk, digging through it for her essay.

"Miss Lewis… This is unacceptable, you realize? You have been late to this class more times than you have been on time. Not only that, but you expect me to accept late work as well? I understand I have made it clear that I will take it, but understand that exceptions to everything can be made," Jennings spoke as soon as the last student had left. Darcy rolled her eyes and finally pulled out the crumpled wad of papers that was her essay. Jennings eyed it with obvious disgust, "And you turn in things like _this_. This is not acceptable, Miss Lewis."

Of course, whatever, blah blah blah… Darcy bit her bottom lip to avoid responding in as curt as a manner as possible. She didn't feel like recounting the whole ordeal to Jennings, especially after the lecture she was sure to receive. But the lecture she expected didn't come, well not at that moment. Jennings was reading whatever she could make out from the crumpled mess, her eyes strolling through the first few paragraphs. "You have a decent enough thesis, your statements are well made, good citations…" Jennings paused when she reached the last page, "It's not finished… You have made little to no effort to include a rebuttal or a conclusion or any type of bibliography… Miss Lewis, what do you suggest we do?"

Darcy took a deep breath. There was no way she'd be passing this class, but that fail would not look good on her transcripts… She shrugged, "I was working on it, I really was but… See, this was assigned before the break and well, over the break… I signed up to be an assistant to this scientist in New Mexico and a guy fell from the sky, she ran him over, then again, and the city was destroyed by a metal monster and…" "Miss Lewis! I will not tolerate such excuses being made! At least come up with a decent enough reason," she said, rubbing at her temples.

And so, after a heated discussion on what were illusions, hallucinations, and truths, Darcy was kicked from the class.

She stomped her way back to the car. That gas she'd wasted going to that stupid class that was completely pointless! Was it too late to change her major? Darcy pulled out of the parking lot and drove her way to the outskirts of town. What hypocrisy… Saying she'd been wasting gas to attend a class and now she was driving with no purpose… Darcy found herself finally alone, surrounded by nothing but the wildlife, greens, and hills. Only then did she turn off her car and step outside.

A breath of fresh air was extremely welcome, to the point of hilarity. Darcy sat on the hood of her car, zipping up her jacket to shield herself from the gusts of wind. The sky was a rather dull color, only adding to the dreariness of the day. She'd have to sell off the stupid class text wouldn't she? Well, that would return at least $180 she'd spent on that pointless class.

And just when things couldn't get any worse, she heard thunder. She gave a weak smile… Thunder and Jane's… boyfriend? Were they a thing now? She hadn't heard of Jane receiving any contact from that… hunk. Then, an all too familiar scene played out in front of her. The sky turned into that familiar shade of blue, black, and purple, and a tornado appeared not too far from her. Of course, her initial reaction was to run and hide inside the car but she'd learned to do better than that and she immediately dropped to the floor, covering her head. But a tornado in Virginia?

Darcy looked up and saw the tornado's funnel diminishing almost as quickly as it had appeared. Was Thor back? She looked around her near vicinity and saw someone laying in the grasses nearby. "A-Are you okay, Th.." It wasn't Thor. His hair was golden, but this stranger had shoulder-length black hair. And he appeared to be out cold. "Serious case of déjà vu here…" Darcy walked over to the man that was face down in front of her. "A-Are you dead?" she asked. She hoped for a response, because if he didn't respond then that would only confirm her suspicions. Was it completely normal for people to drop out of the sky?

She knelt down beside him and tried to turn him over. He was breathing, yes… Alright, good sign, good sign! He then turned of his own accord and Darcy was able to get a good glimpse at his face. Well he was no Thor but he was still so… enchanting. And then his eyes opened… The emeralds met the sapphires and Darcy felt herself fall into a trance. This guy… He was so damn attractive. "Who are you?" he asked. And that was when Darcy knew she'd fallen for this guy's looks and his voice… It was just so effing sexy and attractive! She took a small breath and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, "I'm Darcy, Darcy Lewis. You wouldn't happen to know a tall guy, blonde hair, blue eyes, name's Thor, would you?" At the mention of Thor's name, his eyes turned ravenous and he looked around, "You know of him, do you?" Darcy nodded, not realizing what she was getting into. She did, however, note a mischievous glint in the stranger's eyes… His very green and very gorgeous eyes if she was allowed to add that on.

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_Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, or even if you didn't, please leave a review. Constructive criticism is vital to anyone that writes and I practically live off of that stuff. Thank you, once more! Updates will be... whenever I have time, which is normally... all the time. Thankies again!_


	3. Fickle Humans

The situation was absurd and while Loki was struggling to somehow manage to take reins of it, he found himself thrown aback by the mortal girl's comment. She mentioned Thor and Loki quickly turned to actually take a good look at the girl. She appeared to be appealing to a mortal's eye but she would compare little to any of the Asgardian women.

What was he thinking?

Loki pulled himself off the ground and looked around for any hint of Thor. He had not finished what he had been saying and the cast-off prince knew better than to think that the conversation would be left unfinished. Thor tended to finish what he was saying and did not take kindly to interruptions, even if they had been called for. Loki dusted himself off and grimaced as he noticed his armor had vanished, leaving in him in the weak and thin layer he wore under it. This was no doubt Odin's doing. What a marvelous idea, thought Loki, to leave the exiled menace with as little possibility of surviving any sort of attack. He smoothed back his hair and looked over at the mortal girl whose gaping mouth was sure to gather a few insects.

"Who are you?" he asked, staring at her intently. She looked at him and introduced herself as a Darcy Lewis. What a strange name, but he had heard of stranger names on Midgard. The god of mischief was about to stand up, walk off, and try to heal his own wounds with his magic when Lewis spoke of Thor. The attributes she described belonged to none other than his so-called brother and it was then that he turned back and stared at her with a new curiosity. She knew of Thor so she must have known of him, no? The Midgardians had made sure to warn all those around the world, and after the incident in that place called Germany, they had a face to connect to the name. And yet, this Midgardian seemed strangely out of the loop.

Perfect. It was beneficial to him.

"You know of him, do you?" Loki asked, choosing his words rather carefully so as to avoid spilling too much information. Who wouldn't know of that marvelous and grand god of thunder, the one that had overshadowed him and forced him to fall once more? He would come back, and Loki would use that to his own advantage. He was forced to suppress a bit of a smirk as he imagined how it would be like, how easy it would be, to manipulate his brother whose mind was as simple as the numerous Chitauri he'd helped annihilate.

Lewis nodded and held out her hand, perhaps an offering to help him stand. Loki ignored her gesture and stood up of his own accord. How far had he fallen that he would be forced to accept a mortal's hand? It would be many millennia before he would ever soil his hands by accepting any help or pity from those beneath him.

And it was then that his situation truly hit him. He was a mortal now. He was no longer as high and mighty as he believed himself to be. It was all part of the Allfather's plan was it not? That damned man knew how much it would pain him to have fallen so much, to have covered so much distance in such short time, and lose it in the same amount. And it truly did pain him, pain him as it had when he fell from the Bifrost and into the abyss, as it had when he realized that he would never once be able to look at himself the way he had before. Loki took a deep breath before pushing himself up off the grass and weeds. Lewis withdrew her hand and a small shadow of disappointment fluttered about her face if only for an instant. He'd be damned if he appeared to care for any of it, though. She was just someone he would be able to use.

Loki winced as he stood up and felt a twist in his stomach. His spine was out of its natural state, to the point where standing straight hurt much more than it should. Lewis seemed to notice since she quickly walked over to him and nudged him towards the vehicle. Really, Midgardians had the strangest modes of transportation he had seen. Not even the Chitauri's strange machinery had looked so foreign, but at least he understood how those worked. Sure, he had ridden in a Midgard's vehicle before, but that had been mainly for the convenient purpose of leaving behind S.H.I.E.L.D. and taking the tesseract.

Despite his objections to accepting any type of help from a human, Loki allowed himself to be shown into the passenger seat of the vehicle and seated himself on the rather strange interior. The floor was strewn with papers with small writing, notebooks, and one too many discarded coffee mugs from a place called Starbucks. Loki inched his legs away from the mess as far as he could in the enclosed space until Lewis opened the door much wider and scrambled to get everything from the floor into her arms, all of which she promptly tossed out into the wilderness with a single flick of her hands.

Loki's curiosity started to show a bit as he looked over at the mess on the wildlife, "Is none of that valuable?"

"Not anymore. Stupid Jennings…" she said, slamming the door of the car with such ferocity it jolted the little Volkswagen back and forth, hitting his elbow and sending it flying into his ribcage. What would not have hurt him as a god came as a terrifying blow, especially since he had just been sent back down to Midgard and landed on his back. He had known how fragile humans were before, but now that he was actually experiencing this sort of damage, no matter how miniscule… His actions seemed to have multiplied and he could feel every instance he had stricken his enemies; his mind inflicted every single blow upon him.

Loki watched as Lewis walked around the car and opened the other door, settling herself in the seat to his left. There were multiple buttons across the middle section that separated them, a large amount of which the curious ex-god wished to press. He would have too, had Lewis not decided to press one of them herself and a sudden explosion of voices and ruckus filled the vehicle. Loki felt himself twitch a bit as the noises grew louder and grew relieved when Lewis turned down the volume upon seeing his reaction.

"S-Sorry, it's been a hectic day and music's a good way to let go," she said, pressing the same button once more. The small screen went blank and Loki stared at the device.

"You called it music. Music is not a cacophony such as that," Loki said, massaging his temple. The sudden outburst had caused him a minor aching head, another thing he had never experienced. Lewis maneuvered her way out of the dirt road and back onto the typical pavement that humans drove upon. Loki took deep breaths as he watched the scenery go by.

Back in Asgard, there were beautiful landscapes, yes, but none of them had so much green. Most of the beauty back on Asgard was due to the technological and architectural advances of the peoples. Loki drifted back into his formulation of a plan to get the Allfather to regret casting him out. There were not many ways a mortal would be able to fight a god, but by somehow gaining the attention of the Allfather once more, perhaps Loki would be taken back to Asgard for another type of punishment. But that was too risky and mostly would depend on Thor agreeing to help his so called brother. Loki sighed, knowing that his idiotic brother would more likely than not find some way to ruin any simple plan. It was best not to involve him.

"So—um—what's your name? I mean, you know mine and all. It's only polite to introduce yourself too you know?" Lewis interrupted. Loki rolled his eyes at the interruption. Were mortals normally social beings? Polite, she'd said. He was a prince! He needed not to consider what was polite, especially since she was merely a mortal… as was he now.

"I am Mal Gnatus. I was a servant for the house of Odin and was cast out from Asgard after I was found stealing a loaf of bread for my starving siblings. It was a justified punishment I believe. After all, I did steal from the house of Odin," Loki lied. He tripped over a few of his words, as if to add some sort of sentiment to his words, to prove their false truth.

Lewis reacted accordingly, with a gasp and a look of pity. It angered him, truly it did, to be given such a look. And it truly infuriated him to be pitied by a human, but he had to do what was necessary if he was to use her to his own advantage. After all, having a human servant would turn out to be quite useful in any event. But she was much more valuable than any common human; she knew of Thor. If Loki could corrupt her vision of Thor, he would be able to find out more about what she knew, but first, he would have to pretend to enjoy her company.

Well, the god of lies and mischief could certainly pretend to feign interest in a woman.

"Mal… That's horrible. Did they know about your situation? I'm sure if Thor knew, he would've helped you, you know, if he had time for it. This past year was pretty hectic for everyone. First it was all about Thor's problems about being hammered and then turning out to be this god with a brother complex, and then Thor's brother invaded Manhattan, a group of super-powered people had to beat him, etcetera. It was… ugh. I'm kind of sad it's all over. I at least had some excuse for not doing my school work," Lewis grumbled.

Great, thought Loki, she knows about Thor's brother but apparently not his appearance. Loki dove deeper into his thoughts and came up with the conclusion that at least someone would recognize him. He turned toward Lewis, leaning to her a bit, "I assume there is no place that will accept a vagabond such as me."

Lewis turned to him and then sent her eyes darting back to the road. What fickle fools mortals were, so entranced by simple actions and appearances… "I-I guess you could stay in my neighbor's apartment. He left on some business trip but left me the keys so I could feed his fishes. A-As long as you don't try to cook them, I guess that would be okay," Lewis chuckled.

Cook fish? Loki bit back a remark. What kind of prince would ever cook his own meal? But no, he had to have picked his backstory as that of a peasant servant, so she assumed he was a hungry beggar. Great…

"I would never dare. There are many strange sorts of fish in Asgard, much larger than anything found here on Midgard. I highly doubt any fish here would satisfy…" Loki trailed off. Hungry beggar. He had to keep that up.

Lewis however did not notice but just gave an awkward smile as the car sped into the beginnings of the city and away from the hills and the enjoyable, peaceful gardens.

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_Bet you guys thought I'd forgotten about this no? I apologize for the tardiness of this chapter. Blame school, work, and traveling. Thank you to all the favorites and follows as well as to my sole reviewer! You guys reminded me that I have an ongoing fanfiction! So expect the next chapter much quicker than this one, unless something happens to me... Okie dokie, bye!_


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